Kickstarting Columbus retail

Seven Studios wellness studio will open for business this week, thanks to theKickstart Columbus initiative. (Photo via sevenstudios.com)

Trainer and Seven Studios owner Julie Wilkes won one year free and two years of reduced rent in a storefront space located at 275 S. Third Street as a winner in the Kickstart Columbus business plan competition. The competition was a joint program between the ECDI, Columbus City Council, the Columbus Downtown Development Corp. & Capitol South and Columbus Crossroads.

City council members Troy Miller and Eileen Paley announced the competition in late January during a press conference at the new space, donated by Capitol South. The competition is “one of many ways City Council is kickstarting small business in Columbus,” said Miller during the competition’s debut. City Paws, a house-call veterinary service was another of three possible competition winners.

In addition to the 1,100 square-foot spaces, Seven Studios and City Paws won advertising funding and business mentoring to launch the news shops. Wilkes will mark Seven Studios’ grand opening with an open house from 5:30-8 p.m. Friday. The studio will offer yoga, pilates, life coaching and will carry Wilkes’ aromatherapy product line.